April 2020: Release Radar

The ICMP community never stops surprising us and, once again, they have provided the best monthly soundtrack we could ever wish for!
Here is a great selection of tracks being released this month, April 2020. Follow our playlist to not miss out on any new tracks by our students and alumni.

 

LORANA

Lorana is writing songs about questions without answers. The MA Songwriting graduate recently released the first Single 'Am I?' of her upcoming EP focussing on the duality she feels between her small Belgian hometown and the big London city. The self-made woman told us how she created her very own minimal pop-sound:

"The vast majority of the production was created in a small studio flat in Neasden, North West London, where I was living at the time. If you listen carefully, you’ll be able to recognise some home-cooked sounds: I turned the doorbell of my family home into a synth, while the window blinds became percussion."

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JONATHAN MILANES

Underground DIY artist and bedroom producer Jonathan Milanes has released his latest single Beautiful Love's Corrupted as part of a 4 EP concept he will release throughout 2020. The BA Songwriting graduate explained that not only 'Prince' had a big influence on his music but also his cultural background:

"The aspect of living in multiple cultures can clearly be heard in my music, as the songs I create, hint at being more than one-dimensional in tone – there’s always an aspect of new perspectives dwelling in and out, both through the lyrics and production of my tracks."

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KEEMOSABE

KEEMOSABE have released the first single 'The Lights Go Down' of their upcoming debut album 'Look Closer', mixed and mastered by Grammy-awarded producers Tommaso Colliva and Giovanni Versari. The band features MMus Popular Music Performance alumni Sebastiano Vecchio and Alberto Cottafavi and lives together in a studio lost in the woods of Northern Italy. The main inspiration for the writing process was a quote from philosopher Alan Watts, which eventually became an actual part of the song (at 3:02):

"But behind the scenes, in the green room, you always have a tiny, sneaky suspicion that you might not be the you that you think you are."

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DIAMOND X

Spanish multi-instrumentalist Diamond X recently released his new single 'In my head' which is influenced by his alt-rock past and his urban music present. He is currently studying Music Production at ICMP and said about his self written and self-produced song that it's:

"full of doubts, contradictions and slow realizations of unexpected love that take the listener through a dark tunnel that seems to have light at the end, yet we never get there. The ending, though, stays open."

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CONOR REILLY

Conor Reilly just released his self-produced debut single 'Hate the fact'. The synth-driven song combines rock and pop influences. ​The BA Creative Music Production student explained to us that;

"it’s about platonic relationships as well as love as relationships in life can be a strength and a weakness "

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JAAN HANTSON

19-year old BA Creative Music Production student Jaan Hantson has released his new single 'Same Shoes Different Moves'. The song features his 16-year old sister on Vocals and is self-written and self-produced. He said the song is about

"me being mad at someone. I'm offending him but at the same time I'm thankful for learning me certain things about people’s personality."

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JORDAN O

Jordan O is a singer/songwriter from East London and one of our talented MA Songwriting students. His music got different R'n'B, Gospel, Pop and Hip Hop influences as you can hear in his latest single 'Head Up High'. Jordan told us that the song is:

"about keeping your head up high and staying positive even when everything around you gives you reasons not too."

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ANTONIA DWYER

Antonia, one of our BA Creative Musicianship students, produces a fusion of jazz, soul and hip-hop, showing influence from iconic predecessors such as Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill. Her debut single 'Silver Lining' was released this month.

"I wrote this song about mental health and how it affects me as an artist. In society, many people still hold the beliefs that we should keep our mental health issues to ourselves and that everything will be fine. 
I wanted this song to be a beacon of hope to everyone right now going through isolation as even when you feel like things can’t get worse, there’s always a silver lining."

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BAIRIE

BA Songwriting alumna Emily McCormick just released her latest track, 'Not Love'.

"It’s about uncertainty with someone, denial, self-preservation and confusion in a new relationship before you really know where you stand with the other person, something that’s become a somewhat of issue navigating the 21st century world of love and romance.”"

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LAERTIS

Multi-instrumentalist Laertis released his debut single 'Just U' which he produced together with Music Production student Rob Woods. The BMus Popular Music Performance graduate from Athens said that it

"links to many past experiences and universe worries of mine. Eventually, I got the chance to express, but also release this expression of feelings through my own song!"

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OLINA

Singer/Songwriter Olina found her own sound between indie folk and ambient pop. Before studying the Higher Diploma in Music Performance at ICMP she played numerous concerts and festivals in Greece. The self produced song talks about

"the vulnerability our biggest fears bring and the need to have somebody to talk to and to lean on in these times. "

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ROGUE CHARTER

Rogue Charter are bringing back the dirt and adrenaline of the classic 80's Hard Rock with their recent debut EP 'Ashmore Daze'. Lead singer and BA Creative Musicianship student Amedeo Troiano told us about the formation process:

"We spent several days in a box room in Camden Town in a building called Ashmore, just to write songs about what we were living on a daily basis,"

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GNIE

GNIE fuses styles from dark pop to alternative electronic to create an unconventional sound that swims within the pop genre. The Music Production student just released her self produced/mixed debut single "Lady" to kickstart my releases towards my EP. Further she

"also created a collection of music videos which will form the basis for my short film (Directed with ICMP Production student Alexandru Siantiu and with myself as the executive producer). This short film pushes you through each song which depicts a fragments of my past."

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DERELICT

DERELICT experiment with both progressive metalcore and deathcore to bring in a new era of dark melodic music. The band members include four ICMP students from various courses and is influenced by Japanese futuristic Manga. 'Not of this world, not of this life' is how they describe their

"our ominous and enigmatic persona. This world is derelict, but we are all invited to be a part of it."

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ELEVNS

ELEVNS are a production duo around ICMP alumna Gramm and Aurelian who feature different artists on their tracks. For their new single 'Get Back' they've collaborated with L.A. rapper  Mr. J. Medeiros. In an interview they told us:

"We wanted to create a project where we could work with a lot of different artists to feature on our beats. This would help us have diversity in our music and sound alongside full artistic control."

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THEM BLOODY KIDS

BA Songwriting student Sebastian Moederle-Lumb has released 'Freedom of Peace' with his 3 piece alternative metal band 'Them Bloody Kids'. Following their vision of bringing rock and metal back into the mainstream, they have collaborated with Producer Justin Paul-Hill, previously of Sikth, on this track. Sebastian told us:

"This catchy tune uses an 11/8 riff so any theory buffs will be curious to see how that works."

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RAFAELLA

'Broken' is the new single by 3rd year BMus Popular Music Performance student Rafaèlla. Working with CERT HE Creative Music Production student Michael Fink the song combines her emotional, silky voice with a dark sound. The 21-year-old artist said:

"Broken is about realizing your self-worth. Realizing that no matter how much you have been through with a person, no matter how beautiful the love and memories were, you have the self-respect to get up and get over it when it's done."

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YORIKA

The singer/songwriter from Malta has recently graduated from our MMus in Popular Music Performance and is happy to finally share her first single 'Shout' with us. She wrote and recorded this song while living in LA and performed it already at her final recital, which helped her to achieve a Distinction.

"This song talks about miscommunication and the frustration that a person feels when he feels misunderstood."

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LINA SIMONS

Lina is a London based Italo-Nigerian rapper and singer. ​After being featured in Foot Lockers 'Spirit of Unity' campaign together with other emerging artists the Music Business student has released her latest track 'On My Neck'. 

"This track is all about all the pressure people put on my neck to see me failing my dreams."

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NOAH HORNE

After a successful year with over 100k streams on Spotify BA Creative Musicianship alumnus, Noah Horne starts 2020 with his new single 'Party With The Lights Out'. Combining electronic productions with his Harp playing Noah found his own sound and told us that the song:

"is a tongue-in-cheek club track, encouraging people to explore their wilder sides while letting their hair loose. It was co-produced and co-written by Cretan/Greek producer Michelangelo."

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